Completed PhD: Wei Zeng successfully defends his dissertation

08.12.2025

Wen Zeng (left) with supervisor Professor Philip Wigge (right) after a successful defense. Photo: IGZ/Josep Vilarrasa Blasi

Climate change is heating up our planet, threatening crop yield and food security. But how do plants actually sense temperature changes? During his doctoral studies, Wei Zeng demonstrated how plants obtain a precise readout of temperature within a given climate range. On 1st October 2025 he successfully defended his thesis, entitled “COP1 measures temperature by sensing molecular motion in Arabidopsis", at the University of Potsdam.

Plants integrate light and temperature signals through key regulators like the protein CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENESIS 1 (COP1). In his thesis, the biologist uncovered a new molecular mechanism by which the COP1 regulator responds to temperature. By designing new versions of COP1, he was also able to tune the temperature responsiveness and adjust the temperature range within which the plant reacts. This discovery contributes to understanding how plants are able to adapt to different climates, a critical step towards engineering climate-resilient crops of the future.

Zeng conducted his PhD research under the supervision of Prof. D. Phil Wigge at the IGZ. He was associated with the International Max Planck Research School for Molecular Plant Science, where he closely collaborated with Dr. Arun Sampathkumar (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology).

We warmly congratulate Dr. Wei Zeng on completing his doctorate!